French Braiding. Re-memory # 3

First of all, I have to mention (in case you are wondering why a 67 year old woman french braids her hair) I get my hair cut, I would guess, every three or four years - need it or not! :-) I get it cut fairly short and then get busy, or broke, (or both) and just don't get it cut again until it is halfway down my back - which is at the point it is right now. I am now fed up and called to make an appointment but there are no openings until the end of April. :-( . Sooo, I am french braiding my hair so I don't keep slamming it in the car door or dipping it in the paint cans when I am mixing paint!

Getting back to the memories...

When my two older girls were young (er) (I had my first two close together, then one 10 years later and the last one 10 years after that) So, my first two. They frequently wanted their hair done in french braids but I had never learned how to do that and so they taught themselves and did each others'. When my third daughter was little, she would not take "no" for an answer. She got out her Barbie doll and showed me how until I got it. She even made me practice on Barbie! From then on I was able to do her hair and my fourth daughter's hair, as well! Definitely something you need to know with 4 girls! So now, when I french braid my own hair I think of my girls!

The second braid memory was when my oldest daughter moved to the east coast and for awhile it seemed as though we would grow apart being so far away. Then one day she called me and said, "Mommy, I'm sick and I feel miserable, and I need my mommy to come braid my hair for me." She reminded me that I always braided (the regular kind) her hair when she was ill and she equated that with my loving care for her. I did love her and care for her when she was ill, but the hair braiding was done in case she threw up, so she wouldn't get it all through her long hair! After that, I always made sure I braided my younger daughters' hair whenever they got sick.

It's funny, the things that people remember. The things that become special to them.